


We're Not So Different After All.

by theatergirl06



Series: Snapshots of The First Ones. [1]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: But it feels like forever., F/F, I wrote this before I even had AO3., That's not that old., Wow this is old.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatergirl06/pseuds/theatergirl06
Summary: A fight leads two queens at odds to an unexpected location and an unusual conversation.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine of Aragon
Series: Snapshots of The First Ones. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701961
Comments: 3
Kudos: 88





	We're Not So Different After All.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an Aralyn fic that I wrote a while back for one of my best friends ever! Hope you enjoy!

Catherine and Anne were fighting again. Jane sighed as she heard their shouts coming from the second floor, echoing loudly above the music and yelling of the bar.

It had been Anne’s idea to to out for a night of dancing, and all of the queens, though some reluctantly, had agreed. It had actually been going better than some of their other nights out. No one was sick or delirious from drinking too much, Jane had managed to get Cathy to strike up a conversation instead of just reading her book, and even the normally self-conscious Kitty seemed to be having fun.

Then, Catherine’s wine went missing. All of the queens tried to get her to brush it off, to tell her that it was probably a stranger who had made a mistake. Angry drunk Catherine was something none of them wanted to face. The problem was that calming Catherine down was infinitely more difficult with Anne smirking and giggling in the corner. Of course Catherine noticed.

Neither of the queens were completely drunk, but both were a bit tipsy, which meant they put no limits on their fighting. No volume control, no awareness of the people around them, nothing.

Eventually, their fight ended up in an upstairs corridor. People popped out of rooms, yelled at them to shut up, and slammed their doors. It didn’t help.

Looking back on it, thought Cathy, she probably should’ve seen this coming. Both queens had been getting along better lately, but they’d both had a hard week. Catherine had had to do extra shows because one of the alternates was out, and during those shows, everything had seemed to go wrong. Anne had had an unusual amount of nightmares that week, even for her. They both needed to air their grievances one last time, and it made sense to do it after a crappy week. Cathy just wished it didn’t have to be so _loud_.

Upstairs, the first two queens had taken a break from clawing at each other and screaming. Now they were just screaming. _Progress_ , thought Kitty, who had followed them upstairs to make sure no one got hurt. She fully and completely intended to keep an eye on them, no matter what. Or, she had, until she heard _Halo_ by Beyoncé start playing downstairs.

She’d been having such a fun night.

Anna was waving at her.

It _was_ one of her favorite songs _._

Just one song.

How much trouble could it be?

"See?!" screamed Anne, still a tiny bit tipsy. "My cousin ran away from you! That’s how much you _suck_!"

"You sound like a drunk stupid person!" shouted Catherine, also a tiny bit tipsy.

"You _are_ a drunk stupid person!"

"You’re a stupid person, period!"

"You’re more stupid!"

"You took my drink!"

"You took my life!"

"You took my husband!"

"You took my sanity!"

"You took mine first!"

Anne glared at Catherine with wildness in her eyes. Catherine glared back.

They lunged at each other and slammed into a wall. Anne grabbed Catherine and pushed her into the elevator. The second she got to the next floor, Catherine shoved Anne down the stairs. Anne pulled her down with her. Eager to start again, only to be faced with an angry mob of pub guests.

"SHUT UP!" yelled a woman in the front.

"We can’t sleep!" shouted a little boy in the back.

"Get out!"

"Be quiet!"

"We’re filing a noise complaint!"

Before the queens knew it, they were out on the roof, the door was locked, and neither of them could get any cell phone reception.

Ten minutes later, Anne slumped against the door.

"I’m cold."

"Of course you’re cold, Anne. It’s the middle of winter!"

"You’re supposed to give me your coat when I say that!"

"But we’re not dating."

"So what?"

"I’m not even wearing a coat."

"Then give me your clothes. All of them."

"I am _not_ stripping for you on a roof!"

"How about when we get home?"

"Anne!"

"Okay, okay. I’m bored. Let’s play a game."

Catherine looked at Anne warily. Anne looked back at her with pleading puppy dog eyes.

"Fine."

So they sat shoulder to shoulder with their backs to the door, hoping a little bit of warmth would seep through the cracks.

"Never have I ever flirted with someone to manipulate them," said Catherine a little later. Anne paused.

"Well, do you mean in a big way or in a little way. Like, does it have to be to take over a kingdom or something like that, or do you mean, like, to get free food?"

"Any of it!"

Anne put down a finger with a smirk on her face.

"Never have I ever been fluent in French."

"That is _not_ allowed!"

"There’s nothing that says that!"

"Me! I’m saying that!"

"Did you invent this game?"

"Fiiiiine," Anne put another finger down, "but this isn’t fair! You have all 10 fingers left, and I only have 5!"

"Alright, you can have an extra turn, but only because it’ll make you stop whining."

"Never have I ever been fluent in Spanish."

"You can’t do that."

"You literally just did the same thing."

"Fine."

"Never have I ever been married to multiple people in my life."

"So unfair."

"Put down a finger."

"Alright!"

"I’m cold."

"I know. So am I."

"I think I have hypothermia."

"That’s impossible. We haven’t been out here long enough."

"You look very pale."

"I don’t have hypothermia, Anne."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Me neither."

"Let’s keep talking. You can distract me."

Anne paused. "How distracted do you want to be?"

"Very."

"Okay," Anne paused once more, "never have I ever had nightmares about my childhood."

"Yes you have."

"Doesn’t matter."

"Why?"

"Because that’s not the point. The point is that you put down a finger."

Another pause. Then, "how did you know?"

"When I was your lady in waiting, I noticed that you never wanted to talk about your childhood. I was nosy, so when you went off alone to avoid us, I followed you. I would see you go to sleep. Every time we talked about your childhood, you went to bed and woke up screaming. I’ve been wanting to ask you about it ever since we got back, but I haven’t found the right time."

Catherine started at Anne, shocked. "I never knew you both this much."

"I want to know the rest," said Anne, all fun and games gone from her face. "Tell me about growing up."

Catherine smirked. "What’s in it for me?"

"You lose your burden. I tell you my story, and you take on some of mine instead."

"What if I’m not ready?"

"Then I go first. When I was little, I was a wild child. I broke all of the rules, asked all of the wrong questions, and annoyed the shit out of everybody. They decided to send me to court in France. I actually liked it there, because the people understood me. It was the first time that being smart and a girl was okay. But when my family care back, they were horrified. Instead of letting me stay, they decided to throw me at the king. Even then, they refused to speak to me. Because, »Anne gulped, tears starting to fill her eyes, « there was always something so wrong with me that not even those related to me could love me."

This wasn’t the first time Catherine had heard stories about the Boleyn family. Kitty had said similar things, and it was common knowledge that both the beheaded cousins had had hard childhoods, but Anne had always seemed so confident when she talked about growing up that everybody had assumed she didn’t care. Now, looking at the second queen, Catherine didn’t know if she’d ever seen her this vulnerable. She looked unstable, like what she heard next would determine her worth for all of eternity. Catherine wasn’t sure what to say.

"For what it’s worth, I bet you were a very cute child."

"I was a nightmare."

"Why?"

"Parents are supposed to love you unconditionally. Mine didn’t. I must’ve done _something_ wrong."

"Has it ever occurred to you that the problem might be them?"

"Well, Henry did the same thing, so no."

"Henry’s a dick."

"Doesn’t matter."

"What if I told you that that also happened to me?"

"I’d have to hear more to believe it."

"Fine, I guess it’s my turn." Catherine took a deep breath. "Ever since I was born, I was bred to be the next queen of England. I was raised on English customs, not my own. I learned to be quiet, polite, meek, and submissive. The trouble was, I wasn’t. I was too loud, to aggressive, too talkative. I spent too much time sneaking off and playing with swords. My parents found out." Catherine gulped. "They were warriors, both of them. I’ve never seen anything scarier than them when they were angry. I never forgot the sounds of their shouts. When I turned 15, they were all too happy to get rid of me, but I never stopped wondering how I’d been so awful as to get them to shout so loudly."

Catherine was surprised to see Anne grinning at her

"What?"

"Catherine of Aragon, you were a wild child!"

"I was not!"

"Oh, you absolutely were!"

"I was a bad child, not a wild one. I’m still bad."

Anne’s smile broke and she stared intently at Catherine, face filled with worry.

"Still too loud, too bossy..."

Anne looked more serious than Catherine had ever seen her, even when she was comforting Kat.

"Well, Catherine, we were both unruly children. So if you’re bad, than so am I."

"But you aren’t!"

"Then neither are you."

There was a pause, then Catherine broke into a small smile. "We’re not so different, are we?"

Anne smiled back at her. "It’s nice to know I’m not the only one."

"I still think you were a very cute child."

"How would you know?"

"Well, you’re a very cute adult."

Anne’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the Spanish queen. "Catherine of Aragon, are you _flirting_ with me?"

Catherine turned bright red. "What? No! I was only..."

Anne could see how uncomfortable she was, so she decided to change the subject.

"Want to finish the game?"

"Yes."

They played for a little while longer, but Anne could tell something was off with Catherine. She was glad she’d been able to help lighten her burden, but she also had a feeling there was something else Catherine wanted tonight, something she might’ve never had before. Anne knew she hadn’t. So she took a leap of faith.

"Never have I ever kissed someone and really liked it."

Catherine looked at her in surprise. "Not even Henry?"

"Not even Henry. I was too busy trying to please my family, and by the time I stopped, he was planning my execution."

"What about other times?"

"Other times?"

"Making out in bars, people you kiss after three dates, like that."

"It’s empty. I enjoy it, but it also drains me. I end up worse off than when I started."

There was another pause, what felt like the millionth that night. Then, “so you’ve never had any really good kisses, then?” 

"I suppose not."

Catherine looked up and stared right into Anne’s eyes. The green of her eyes reflected the moonlight and made the first queen feel like she was staring at two jewels.

"I guess we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?"

Anne looked back at Catherine. Her eyes were like melting pools of chocolate, warm and welcoming and safe. Anne had never seen anything to beautiful. Little did she know that Catherine was thinking the exact same thing.

"I guess we will."


End file.
